Jersey Governor Chris Christie today made a desperate effort to salvage his bid for the Republican presidential nomination, a quest endangered by all the pettiness and spitefulness connected with the George Washington Bridge traffic jam scandal.

The Big Guy fell flat. Or in the words of my esteemed colleague, Fraser Seitel: “Chris Christie revealed himself as just another greasy politician; prevaricating, covering up, saying one thing and doing another and then apologizing for getting caught.”

Christie’s tumble is sweet news to the ears of Hillary Clinton.

Prior to the traffic pile-up, bombastic Chris was the moderate among the loose cannons slated to make a run at the GOP prize. Christie’s post super-storm Sandy embrace of and praise for President Obama was a political tour de force. The performance earned him respect from Democrats, Independents and reasonable Republicans as the adult thing to do in the aftermath of disaster. While other Republicans wanted either to stiff or short-change fellow Americans the financial relief they required in their time of emergency, Christie rose spectacularly.

Christie was Hillary’s top obstacle. That’s no more as his crass and childish aides did in the governor.

Hillary’s path to the White House is clear. Ted Cruz is still flogging the death of Obamacare as his top priority. Marco Rubio yesterday trottied out the discredited GOP plan of cutting taxes and regulations as the way to win the “War on Poverty.”

Shamefully, the Florida Senator gave his economic “recovery” stimulus jeremiad in the Senate’s LBJ Room on the 50th anniversary of the launch of Johnson’s programs. America has moved on from both Cruz and Rubio. Their novelty act is kaput.

A left-wing Democratic insurgency is Hillary’s only threat to returning to D.C.

Advice for Clinton: a Cabinet spot for Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich, target of the venom of Christie’s gang of thugs. Secretary of Transportation post would be a good gig for Sokolich, who was ridiculed as the “little Serbian.” Or better yet, Ambassador to Croatia, ancestral home of the Sokolich clan.

Kevin Foley (Jan. 17, 2014):The $25 million campaign ad paid for with recovery dollars is the bigger problem for Christie unless it's revealed he did direct the lane closings. I'm counting on one of the scorned members of his "circle of trust" to come forward.

arthursolomon (Jan. 10, 2014):Kevin, don't be so certain that Christie is doomed as a presidential candidate. Dennis Rodman will soon be back in the states to lead the governor's PR crisis team.